Summer Heat and National Day of Mourning

The temperatures have risen significantly the last few days. It is hot and sunny!
During the morning we try to stay outside a bit, enjoying the warmth, but as the day progresses I find myself more and more in our house where it is so much cooler.
The kids don't seem to mind and run from house to house with the neighbourhood kids.
Yesterday we went to a big swimming pool and had a blast. The last time was a year ago, and so many things have changed! They are both older, more brave, more reckless (yup) and are just way more mellow to take along to such a thing as a swimming pool. I hesitated to go last year, this year I was thrilled to pack our stuff and go!
I am also wrapping up two patterns. Just a few finishing touches and one is ready to release! Hubby and me just had a small photoshoot. Can you imagine wearing winter accesories whilst 26 degrees Celsius? Boy it was warm!

Finishing patterns is always a big step. Releasing them gives me a kick! And what's even better: I get to start new projects :)

De temperaturen zijn lekker gestegen de afgelopen dagen. Heerlijk zonnig en warm!
In de ochtend zijn we buiten want dan is het nog uit te houden en kunnen de kindjes lekker spelen, maar zodra de zon stijgt wordt het toch wel een beetje te warm en vlucht ik naar binnen.
De kids maakt het niet uit en rennen van het ene huis naar het andere huis samen met de buurtkinderen.
Gisteren zijn we naar een groot buitenzwembad geweest en het was geweldig! De laatste keer was vorig jaar en er zijn zo veel dingen veranderd aan de kids. Ze zijn ouder, groter, moediger, roekelozer en eigenlijk een heel stuk relaxter om mee te nemen naar zo iets. Ik hikte er vorig jaar tegen aan om uberhaupt er naar toe te gaan, nu had ik er enorm veel zin in!
Op dit moment ben ik ook twee patronen ein-de-lijk aan het afmaken. Nog wat oppoetsen en dan is er eentje in ieder geval klaar om te publiceren! De Man en ik hadden net een fotoshoot. Kun je je voorstellen dat je met winterspul en een jas aan in 26 graden staat. Ik smolt :)

Patronen afmaken is een grote stap. Het ook echt publiceren geeft me een enorme kick! En wat nog leuker is: dan mag ik aan wat nieuws beginnen :) 

As you might have read in the news and in my post of last Friday, I can honestly say there is still shock and horror in the Netherlands in the aftermath of the crash of flight MH17. Today came the news that finally bodies of the deceased passengers have arrived and my heart hopes that my student, her mother, her stepfather and her stepbrother are amongst them.

It is a national day of mourning. My heart goes out to all the families, friends and acqaintances of those who have passed away..

Voor jullie lieve Nederlandse lezers hoef ik niet uit te leggen wat er vandaag gebeurt in ons kikkerlandje. Ik hoop heel erg dat mijn leerlinge, haar moeder, haar stiefvader en stiefbroer nu in het land zijn...

Ook ik doe in gedachten mee aan de Nationale dag van rouw. Mijn hart staat even stil bij alle families, vrienden en kennissen die nu zitten te hopen op nieuws en eigenlijk nog zo lang moeten wachten..

She was only 17..

"She" is one of my students...

I watched the news last night and let it all soak in but also minded my own business.
Until someone from school phoned when I was already lying in bed. The first thought that crossed my mind "if someone is calling at this hour something bad has happened".

And it was.

One of my students was in Malaysian Airlines flight MH17 that was shot down in Ukrain yesterday afternoon. She was on her way to her vacation address in Kuala Lumpur. Along with her mother, stepdad and stepbrother.

It is impossible to describe what I felt when I hear the news and what I am feeling today.  It feels like a deep deep hole in my hear.

This morning we took care of her classmates and took care of ourselves, the teachers. We mourned for her loss. Most of us cried, most of us hugged, both teachers and students.

And the news got even worse.

The best friend of the principal was also on that plane.

As was a friend of the daughter of a colleague.

And the training buddy of a colleague.

And the brother of a friend of one of our laboratory assistents.

It was devastating to hear this.


I mourn deeply for all of the people who were on that plane, and feel terribly sorry for all of the family members and friends left behind.

So sorry.

Circle of Life

 

 A strange feeling crept up on me last evening. During the past three weeks I've encountered almost all stages of life.
My best friend became mom to her first baby.
My hubbys nephew got married.
My best friend lost his father.

Strange how all this is just how life is, although we either do not want to know about it or enjoy a big celebration.
Life is life.

I feel sorrow for my best friend and I hope he will see happiness in life again some time in the future...

Times of great sorrow have the potential to be times of great transformation. But in order for transformation to happen we must go deep, to the very roots of our pain, and experience it as it is, without blame or self-pity. ~ Osho


Een gek gevoel besloop me gisteravond. De afgelopen drie weken stonden zomaar ineens in het teken van bijna alle levensfasen.

Mijn beste vriendin werd voor het eerst mama.

De neef van de Grote Vent trouwde.

Mijn beste vriend verloor zijn vader.

Het is zo raar dat het allemaal bij het leven hoort, maar dat we liever voor sommige dingen onze ogen willen sluiten en andere dingen juist enorm vieren. Terwijl het gewoon het leven is.

Ik voel verdriet voor mijn beste vriend, en ik hoop dat hij ergens, als de tijd daar is, weer vrolijkheid in het leven ziet..

Times of great sorrow have the potential to be times of great transformation. But in order for transformation to happen we must go deep, to the very roots of our pain, and experience it as it is, without blame or self-pity. ~ Osho

Designer Woes, Baker's Thrills and Fighting the Flu

The title says it all!

I was/am down with some kind of flu. Last week Little Man was sick, and now its my turn. And Little Ladies turn. Blegh.

I got some throatache on Sunday and started to feel cold and sore. Not good. So I stayed home from work yesterday.

Yesterday evening Little Lady started to throw up, felt warm, threw up in the middle of the night and this morning again. It is a cuddle day today.

So that is why it has been a bit quiet over here!

Although we were a bit out of routine and a bit messy, I could not help myself admiring the sky outside and take a few pics this morning.

I love stripey and flakey clouds, and the sun was already shining. So much better than the grey weather of past week, although it is still bitterly cold.

Last weekend Big Man and I were really working as a team so the house is quite clean and in order (sort of) and I finally could get some things done.

Such as working on the Moss Lace pattern....

You know, I could not have foreseen that patterns could be this difficult. In wording and in getting it all across to other people. So Moss Lace has been revisited again and hopefully it is all well now. It left me feeling a bit down, but Big Man cheered me up and said: "See it as a learning process". And yes, it teached me quite a few lessons.

 I also felt the urge to bake! It has been a while since I baked and I really wanted to try Cinnamon Rolls. I found this recipe to be the easiest and I combined it with the glazing of the Raspberry Swirl rolls. As always I did some tweaking of both recipes to make it lactosefree so I will try to make a recipe blog post tonight or tomorrow. They were absolutely divine....

Monday was a cuddly day because of the Flu bugs and today is a bit of the same. Little Lady and I nested on the couch, warm under the quilts.

I had a bit of crocheting done, had a bit of lunch (Little Lady is napping), typed two blogpost and right now I am going to take on some paper, glue and scissors to make a festive platter for Little Man's big Spring Breakfast at school. They all have to make a nice festive breakfast for a fellow student (read: their mommy/daddy has to make it :) ) and are going to eat it tomorrow morning at school. I am still working on it!

See you soon! And hopefully with a more yarn inspired blog post!

Happy Bday!

 

 

Yesterday I became 32 years old. Yikes! I feel really old.

On Friday, the kids went both to a sleepove with my parents, so Big Man and I went out together, slept in on Saturday and did everything our weay during the rest of the day. Such bliss. Every once in a while we really need to do something with the two of us.

Sunday, being my birthday and being the last day of Spring Holidays, was a normal day. Just being lazy in the mornings, trying to catch up with household chores in the afternoon.

But with cake. You cannot "skip" a birthday without a cake!

This carrot cake is absolutely the best carrot cake I have ever tasted and this recipe is definately a keeper!
The recipe is over at Lucy's of Attic24: The Best Ever Carrot Cake
I warn you, this cake is light and fluffy and spongy. Not too sweet, just excellent taste! And the frosting tastes a bit sour because of the orange juice and rind in it. Beautiful combination of sweet and sour!

Today I am getting back to teaching. Just an hour today. Every week I am going to add a class up to what I can manage. I am excited about it, but also a bit reserved, because there is a chance I will hit a bit of a wall of what I can manage with working.

We'll wait and see!

Back to Henna Again!

 

I had two tone hair for way too long. I think it has been almost a year since I last put some henna mud on it. 

About time!

I am back to full henna treatments, because I love the reds it gives you.

The last few times I did 2 parts neutral henna (or cassia) with 1 part henna.

But this time: 100% beautiful henna of my favorite brand.

This is how I do it: 

In a bowl I put 300 grams of henna for my tailbone length hair, mix it with boiled water until it is a nice paste (not to crumbly and thick, not to thin and drippy), put two tablespoons of conditioner in it and a tablespoon of honey.

Then I detangle my hair and wet it with strong chamomile tea (this treatment will give nice soft and glossy hair!), put on the henna paste and massage it really well on my hair making sure everything is covered. Use gloves! Otherwise you will have orange hands for a while.

Put cling wrap on your head and look in the mirror. My problem is that I always have to much henna on my forehead and ears. I always clean those parts directly after the cling wrapping.

I left it on for two hours. The longer you leave it the more intense the colour will be.

After those two hours I always rinse it out with lots and lots and lots of water and lots and lots of conditioner.

Result: soft, shiny, glossy red hair. I love it.

For more information about henna I always go to this site: Henna for Hair